Courtney's Bible Commentary

Studying the Bible has never come naturally to me.  I wish that were not so.  Instead it requires a great deal of discipline, and while it has improved over the years, there is still much to be desired in that area of spiritual practices.

It dawned on me, however, in recent months that I needed to change my approach to Bible study.  I often found myself wandering aimlessly through various books and chapters, with no real intent or aim.  This approach usually got me nowhere, and left me feeling even less motivated to read my Bible because I never felt like I was accomplishing anything.  Unless I wanted to be the definition of insanity and keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, I was going to have to change up my Bible study game.

This is where I had a revelation.  I love lists - I love to-do lists, and grocery lists, and "books to read" lists, and favorite quotes lists, and "places to visit" some day, and bucket lists.  All kind of lists.  They are orderly, methodical, efficient and logical. The perfect pair for my Type A personality that I want to be in denial about.

So, knowing that about myself, I realized I needed to incorporate that into my Bible study methods.  If I love lists, well, then start making some lists while you're reading, ya big dummy. I found myself a notebook over at Target which had three columns - on the far left column, I marked the header with the book and the chapter.  The center column is for comments and thoughts, and the far right column is for the date on which I read that particular chapter.

Let the list-making begin!

Because I had never read through the entirety of the New Testament, I decided to launch into Matthew 1, reading one chapter per day, making a list of comments and observations as I went.  Given that I started this habit back in January, I'm now all the way into 1 Corinthians (skipping Romans since I just studied that in BSF), and have got quite the collection of notes gathered.  I was reviewing them all recently and I noticed some interesting trends:

1) I'm fascinated by the obscure people in the Bible. I want to know about the child mentioned in Matthew 18 - boy or girl, and what was his/her name?  And Mark 1:30 mentions Peter's mother-in-law, but I really want to know about his wife.  What was she like?  What about the women who traveled with Jesus and the discipled as they went from town to town, mentioned in Luke 8:2-3?  "These women were helping to support [Jesus and the disciples] out of their own means." How did these women get their money?  I want to know about the disciples' wives and children (Acts 21:5), and Paul's sister and nephew (Acts 23:16).  We know a lot about the major players like Peter and Paul, but what about all of these other people never mentioned by name?  They are the ones I want to know more about.

2) I am generally confused by Jesus.  For Mark 7:24-30, I simply wrote, "This exchange makes no sense to me."  Same for Luke 4:23-29: "I am confused by this story and Jesus' statements."  I just simply wrote, "I'm confused," for Luke 5:20-24. Welcome to life.

3) I have a fair amount of idle curiosity. As I read over my notes, I realized I wondered about a lot of seemingly inane facts: What did the shepherds do with all their sheep when they went off to find baby Jesus (Luke 2:16)? Who gave the naked man some clothes (Luke 8:32)? Is this dude really sleeping with his own mother (1 Corinthians 5:1)? What happened to the slave girl once her super powers were gone (Acts 16:18)? Noticing the small details is half the fun when reading the Bible.

4) I think the disciples are kind of dense and a bunch of extremists at times. In Luke 9:51-54, they meet some opposition from the Samaritans when attempting to visit their village: "As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.  And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.  When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” I simply wrote, "This response seems a bit extreme, 'They didn't welcome you, so let's set them on fire." There were several other instances when I wrote about the disciples saying and doing dumb things.  Although, I probably am in no shape to point fingers.

5) I am very concerned about ancient people's ability to pack snacks. This stands out to me as I myself am never far from a snack of some sort.  Anybody who has known me for any length of time knows this is true.  I get a little panicked when I realize I have no snacks in my car, in my purse or my desk drawer because that almost never ever happens.   So when I read the Bible this naturally stands out to me as a problem.  Take Matthew 16:5, for example, "When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. "  Uh, Houston.

Perhaps my favorite comment, though, one that truly reflects the depths of my heart, is one I wrote for Mark 8, when Jesus feeds the four thousand, "During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 'I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.'"

As you can see here, my comment simply said, "Why is it that no one ever seems to carry snacks?!"

So while my biblical commentary is nowhere near on par with Matthew Henry, Warren Wiersbe, J. Vernon McGee, Charles Spurgeon, Charles Swindoll, or a host of any other scholarly commentators, I can assure you that none of them have taken the care and concern to note the snack shortage in the Bible.  #YoureWelcome.

As I journey onward with my list-making adventure, I will be sure to alert you to any other noteworthy snack shortages.  At least we know when I hit the Old Testament lists, we won't have to worry about that.  Because, obviously:

Manna and quail.

I don't have to worry about God and his snack game.  It's just everybody else in the Bible I'm concerned about.

Three Things I Should Be a Spokesperson For

My last post was about two things.  I figure I should continue the trend and expand on another three things I have strong affections for.

We all have our favorites in life - favorite restaurants, favorite foods, favorite colors, favorite places, etc.  And I am no different.  Let's discuss three things that somebody out there should seriously consider hiring me as a spokesperson for.

1) Cheez-Its.  This is serious, people. If you know me at all, you are well aware of this love affair. I am usually never far from a box of these cheesy bits of amazingness.  On a really good month, I usually have a box in my car, a box at my apartment, and a box in my office drawer.  I usually receive Cheez-Its for birthday and Christmas gifts.  I think every trip I have taken overseas for the last several years (or any domestic road trip for that matter) has without fail included a box of Cheez-Its somewhere in a suitcase or carryon.  And let's make one thing very clear - I don't do any kind of Cheez-It except the original kind.  Not the ones with special characters or letter printed on them, not the reduced fat ones, not the groovy ones, none of that.  Original is the only way to go and anything less than that is just not worth bothering about.  

For kicks I decided to track my Cheez-It intake for 12 months, starting a year ago this month. Roughly 365 days later and TWENTY-SIX boxes of Cheez-Its later, I am still not sick of eating them, which my mother finds very perplexing, and maybe slightly concerning.  I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who eat way more Cheez-Its than I do, but I thought 26 boxes was a solid effort.  

If I had Twitter, I would tweet Kellogg's and say, "Hire me. #ILoveCheezIts. I have the data to prove it."
 

2) George Foreman Grill.  Alright, probably an odd one, but nevertheless.  This thing is amazing.  And you would be amazed at what you can cook/reheat on this thing.  I've reheated leftover mashed potatoes, I've reheated rice (a bit messy but totally possible), I've warmed up cookies, I've toasted bagels and bread on it, I've grilled stuffed pita bread on it.  Heck, I even took a Hershey's Kiss off the top of one of my mom's cookies the other day, stuck it on the grill, just to melt it just a tad. It was perfect.  I do occasionally use it for what it's actually intended - like grilling normal things such as chicken.  Some of you are probably wondering, "Courtney, why on earth do you use it to reheat all these random things??" Well, when you don't have a microwave, you have to come up with alternative solutions.  It takes too long for the oven to heat up, so the George Foreman is my go-to option when I want a quick reheat.  Works like a charm.  I should start my own Youtube channel on all the things you could make with a George Foreman.

3) Just Pies. On a cabinet in my kitchen, I have the business hours for three places - the gym, the library, and Just Pies.  This should tell you a lot.  Total and complete bliss. I want to either cry when I eat one of these things I'm so overwhelmed by their goodness, or I just want to jump up and down with giddiness.  I'm starting to lose track of the number of times when I will hop in the car and head out for the express purpose of getting a pie from this place.  I did it last week at work - I was craving chocolate something fierce and had zero sweets in my desk drawer.  So, I went very much out of my way to go buy a pie. Which I then kept all to myself and shared with no one.  My day was complete.  I did the same thing this past Saturday.  And the really great thing is that they have these little baby pies, which can be cut up into about four small slices.  Just my size.  
  

So, Kellogg's, George or Just Pies - if you ever read this and want to hire me, don't hesitate to contact me.  

Where I Go, They Go

Packing for overseas trips has become a bit of a game for me.  I'm determined to someday go overseas and pack only a book bag.  I thought I could pull it off on this trip and I was giving it a valiant effort.  I finally had to succumb, however, and accept the fact that it was just not meant to be.  My suitcase that I'm checking still only weighs 26 pounds.  Pack light or stay home is my motto! (Thank you, Kristen P. for articulating that for me the last time I packed to go overseas.)  I'll have one small suitcase to check, a book bag to carry-on and a small purse - all totaling 48 pounds. I love efficient packing. I think my goal is always to take less and less on each successive trip I take.  Maybe one of these days I'll achieve my own personal gold standard of only carrying on a book bag and checking no luggage.    

This trip is going to be a bit of a departure from my last few trips.  I'm heading out with the Jesus Film Project to a little French island off the coast of Australia called New Caledonia for two weeks and then spending a couple of extra days in New Zealand before I head back home.  There are a whole host of thoughts that have gone into deciding to go on this trip, but I'll unpack those on another day.

You can bet, though, in those 48 pounds of luggage I'm carting around there is most certainly a box of Cheez-Its.  This should not surprise you.

      

Where I go, they go.  They went with me to Kenya and they went with me to Guatemala.  They will now go with me to New Caledonia and New Zealand.  What would I do without you, Cheez-Its?    

Nice Try

Forgive me for making this the second post in a row about Cheez-Its, but this one was too funny to pass up. My friend Jenna had asked me awhile ago if I had ever received the letters she sent to me in Kenya.  I told her I hadn't but the Village Director had my forwarding address and would send me any items that came after my departure.

Well, her letters finally arrived today.  About 3 months after she initially sent them.  

And maybe a little worse for the wear.  Apparently Cheez-Its don't hold up very well during international flights. I never would have guessed.  

This is what Cheez-It dust looks like. 

It was a valiant effort, my friend.  It almost worked.  :)

Divine Spaciousness in Tight Places

I feel as though I should have something a little more profound or eventful to write about on the occasion of my 200th blog post.  Alas, I do not.  It's really just a collection of those small things that have come to mean something big in recent weeks, those little saving graces, those things for which I sent a "thank you, Jesus!" up to the heavens on more than one occasion.  They are the things that I could, no doubt, survive without but they make the going a little easier.  Many moons ago, I had a friend pass along this quote to me, from Barbara Brown Taylor's book Leaving Church:

“Many years ago now, when I was invited to speak at a church gathering, my host said, ‘Tell us what is saving your life now.’  It was such a good question that I have made a practice of asking others to answer it even as I continue to answer it myself.  Salvation is so much more than many of its proponents would have us believe.  In the Bible, human beings experience God’s salvation when peace ends war, when food follows famine, when health supplants sickness and freedom trumps oppression.  Salvation is a word for the divine spaciousness that comes to human beings in all the tight places where their lives are at risk, regardless of how they got there or whether they know God’s name.  Sometimes it comes as an extended human hand and sometimes as a bolt from the blue, but either way it opens a door in what looked for all the world like a wall. This is the way of life, and God alone knows how it works." 

So these things are my extended human hands or bolts from the blue, the things that have found me in tight places as of late:

1) My Sseko sandals - oh man, am I glad I have these sandals.  I LOVE these things.  On my last trip, I brought a not-so-great pair of tennis shoes and they wreaked havoc on my feet.  I really wasn't sure what to pack this time around, half-afraid everything was going to just cause pain from all of the walking we do around the village.  So, so, so glad I've got these with me.  Buy your own pair (and support some efforts in Uganda in a practical way!) and see what I mean.

2) My smartphone - I know, I know.  I vowed to loathe this thing for all eternity when I first got it.  Just ask anyone who was within 50 feet of me in the first few days I had it. I ranted and raved about this phone - and not just the phone itself, but the principle of having to pay what I did for it.  My mother was tired of hearing about it. *Swallowing my pride and eating my words* I will concede that it has been a gift, primarily because I've been readily able to check emails on the go when the guest computer is less-than-speedy and because of some of the apps I have.  Actually when it comes to apps, it's mainly Skype and Pandora.  (Howard Shore and Bethel Music are my top two fave stations.)  I'm not saying I won't chuck the thing when I get back to the States and switch back to my dumbphone, but I am glad I have it on this trip.

3) Emails from friends and family - There are some emails that have literally just made my day, even though whomever is sending them might think they are entirely trivial.  And the longer the email the better.  I just love getting personal emails, having that connection to life back home, knowing what's going on in my friends' and family's lives.  Those things matter to me.  I think sometimes people might put up this barrier and think, "Oh, Courtney's in Kenya - she doesn't need to be bothered we these mundane or inconsequential details..." Ahh, but you are mistaken!  I LOVE  knowing the mundane and the simple details of life back home, the stories.  Please keep 'em coming!

4) When kids say the darndest things - In a village of about 100 kids, there are bound to be things that come out of their mouths that make you laugh out loud.  That happened the other day.  I was taking a walk with Johnson (my caterpillar friend) and somehow we got to talking about the biggest states in America, but then the next question out of his mouth, somehow or another, was about bombs.  It took me probably a solid 30 seconds to decipher what in the world he was talking about and to catch up with his end of the conversation, but I finally caught on.  Then he goes, "Please, do you know where the bombs are?' "No, do YOU know where the bombs are?" "No, please.  Al-Shabab has them."  Seriously?  You're like how old? 7? 8? and you know who Al-Shabab is? And I still don't know how we got from Texas, California and Alaska to asking who has bombs?  I have no idea why, but that hit my funny bone hard in that moment and I had to work hard at not laughing hysterically because he said it so seriously and with a such straight face.  I'm still laughing about it.         

5) Cheez-Its - When I still had some.  I ran out last week. :( :(  That warrants a double-sad-face.  Totally a First World problem-kind-of-thing, but nevertheless you can bet I will be putting in a request for a box of Cheez-Its to be waiting for me at the airport upon my return.  Forget kissing American soil.  I'll be hugging that box of Cheez-Its.  (And no, this is not a prompt to give me Cheez-Its for every birthday and Christmas gift for the rest of my life.  I might have a slight love for these things, but that does not mean I want a lifetime supply of them.)

6) Peanut Butter - I think us girls living here for the short-term have eaten our weigh in peanut butter.  We put it on everything.  Bananas.  Crackers.  Toast.  Apples.  Cookies.  Whatever we can get our hands on, we throw some peanut butter on there with it.  When you eat kale, rice, beans and an assortment of other Kenyan staples, peanut butter suddenly looks likes the greatest food ever invented. 

7) Pastor Brad's sermon from July 22 - I needed to hear it.  You probably do, too.  Listen to it.

8) My mom's weekly cards and emails from my dad - Before I left, my mom handed me a stack of cards, one for each week I was originally supposed to be here.  I have exercised self-control and only opened them at the beginning of their appointed week.  Thank you, Mom!  I love them and read them often.  And Dad, your emails mean the world to me.

9) Weekend trips out of the village - It's just nice to get out every now and then.  Granted, it takes like an hour to get any place decent just because of the roads being not-so-great, but load me up on some Dramamine and we can go anywhere.

10) Java House - God bless you, Java House, for your vanilla milkshakes, tasty chicken sandwiches and stellar french fries.  I think those three things speak for themselves.  

So those are the things that have been saving me lately, the small graces that God gives each day, the manna that arrives at just the moment I need it to.

Have a Sandwich

I dearly love the movie "You've Got Mail."  I don't know what it is, but I can watch that movie over and over and over again and never get tired of it.  Drives my mother crazy that I do that with movies.  There's one scene in particular that was brought to mind today, though.  If you don't know the movie, Meg Ryan plays a bookstore owner named Kathleen Kelly.  She comes up against Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) who is a rival bookstore owner and he eventually runs her little shop into the ground.  She's heartbroken, but she decides to sell the shop, the only thing she's ever known.  She sits down to have lunch with her now former employees but loyal friends and they chat about her decision to sell.  Birdie is her accountant, a slightly eclectic older woman who has been a mentor to Kathleen.  She attempts to give Kathleen a little pep talk:

"You are daring to imagine that you could have a different life. Oh, I know it doesn't feel like that. You feel like a big fat failure now. But you're not. You are marching into the unknown armed with... [pauses, hands Kathleen a plate of sandwiches] Nothing. Have a sandwich."

That's kinda how I feel.  Daring to imagine a different life.  Marching into the unknown with [next to] nothing. 

Why? 

Because I went out on a limb and quit my job to spend more time in Kenya.  The decision was for a variety of reasons, not confined solely to Kenya.  It was about risk.  It was about "divine discontent."  It was about change.  It was about surrendering.  It was about doors closing and doors opening. It was about God nudging and me shoving back.  It was about a lot of things which cannot be fully contained here.  

It wasn't an easy decision by any stretch of the imagination.  And even now the doubts creep in and I wonder if I've lost my mind all together.  That's so like our enemy, Satan.  Always the accuser and the discourager.  But then I tell myself that people make decisions like this every day, in some way, shape or form.  There's nothing exceptional about what I am doing.  This is simply how I know to live my life.  Fears and failures and all that comes along with taking risks. 

So, when you feel like you're marching into the unknown armed with nothing, just remember - have a sandwich.  And maybe some Cheez-its.

Pep Talks

"You can do this, Courtney.  You've done this before, you can do it again.  Just like last time.  You didn't die from it the first time around, you won't die this time.  Just keep going, just keep going, just keep going..."

I think I should hit the motivational speakers' circuit after this trip because I am becoming the master at pep talks.  They usually last about an hour - the thirty minutes leading up to dinner and the thirty minutes during dinner. 

I know, I know.  I'm beating a dead horse.  Anybody who was with me on my last trip is well aware of my intense dislike for some of the meal options here - particularly anything involving beans. It is no exaggeration when I speak of how much I dislike them.  I nearly want to break out in a sweat or in hives whenever I find out beans is on the menu for the next meal. But because I am in Kenya, I try my best to make the most of these life experiences.  Allow me to impart a few words of wisdom to any of you who wish to come to strike out on your own adventure to Kenya some day:

1) Don't breathe while you eat.  That may not sound like a good plan, but I assure you it is.  Because if you don't breathe, you don't allow your brain to register the fact that what you're eating is something you wouldn't be having otherwise. And if you just keep shoveling, then you don't give your brain a chance to catch up with your stomach.  So, by the time you're physically done eating, your brain finally decides to kick in and bring things to a halt.  Magic!

2) Ration all parts accordingly.  If you have ugali (think grits in a fairly hard play-doh form.  I know, right? I've made the same facial expression you probably just made countless times), sukuma wiki (think boiled kale) and roasted chicken, then you must eat them all in equal parts.  One bite equals one part ugali, one part sukuma wiki, one part chicken.  Think of it like milk and cereal in the morning - you have to end up with the same amount of milk as cereal.  If you have too much milk, add cereal.  Too much cereal, add milk.  Same concept.  Only in this instance, you get really desperate to have them all come out equally because you do NOT want to be left with just ugali and sukuma.  That chicken is the only thing holding you back from losing your dinner all together. You better be scraping that meat off the bones.

3) Don't overthink it.  Don't consider what you're eating.  This part is hardest for me. And it's usually where the pep talk comes in.

4)  Pack 4 boxes of Cheez-Its, one for each week you're here, 2 boxes of granola bars and 4 small snack bags of trail mix to compensate.  You think I'm joking.   But I'm not. 

So, while I'm busy raking in the money from the speakers' circuit on how to survive and thrive in Kenya, I'll be sure to offer cans of beans as parting gifts to all of my attendees.  Just my way of saying "good luck."  Shoot, I'll even wrap it and put a bow on it.  No returns, exchanges or refunds accepted. ;)